Dishes
by Snow-Leopard-Patronus
Summary: The Final Battle is over and Voldemort is dead, but someone just can't seem to celebrate. Just a little sad oneshot I wrote last year. HG Not really tragedy, just kind of sort of.


**Hey, I am still working on "Dance With Me" and "Living Art", but I wanted to type up this one-shot I wrote last year. Hope you enjoy it! And thanks a million to my fabulous beta, Tendrilofthought.**

/\/\/\

Dishes

Ginny Weasley stood in her family's kitchen, drying the dinner dishes. The rest of her family and her friend, Hermione Granger, were in the living room, talking and playing Wizarding Chess. However, there was someone missing.

Sighing, Ginny set down the dry dish and picked up another clean one. The Wizarding Wireless buzzed annoyingly in the background.

Recently, everyone had been in celebration. The reason? The Dark Lord, Voldemort, had been defeated only the day before.

But Ginny couldn't celebrate. No matter how much she wanted too, the seventeen year old red head couldn't enjoy the fact that the world could live in peace. Every hour the Wizarding Wireless gave a list of missing persons. And every hour, young Ginny heard the same name:

Harry Potter

18-year-old Harry had been the one to defeat Voldemort, just as the prophecy said, but after the Final Battle, no one could find him. Everyone in the Weasley home had been filling each other up with what Ginny thought was false hope. They all believed that Harry had simply gone off to destroy the rest of the Death Eaters, even though they knew all of them were dead, or he had needed some alone time to gather his thoughts, but he most likely didn't need an entire day to do so.

Lost in her thoughts, Ginny hardly noticed the Wizarding Wireless come to life.

"This is Samuel Matthews reporting on some breaking news." The radio crackled. _'Another Ministry Official's been killed'_ Ginny thought distantly with a sigh.

"The body of the Chosen One, Harry Potter was found just moments ago-"

_**CRASH!**_

The plate fell from Ginny's hands and shattered on the floor. Her breath seemed to halt as her deepest fears became reality. Feeling numb, she was vaguely aware of her family rushing into the kitchen.

"Oh Ginny dear, don't cry, it's not your fault. Those plates are quite slippery." Mrs. Weasley said.

Ginny realized that she had tears streaming down her cheeks. Her body suddenly shook with sobs and she fell to her knees. Only one word could escape through her drowning tears.

"Harry."

"Ginny, don't worry, Harry will be back in no time." Hermione said, kneeling next to her. Another sob fell over her and she shook her head. She took a deep breath and pointed to the Wizarding Wireless.

"Listen." She said softly. The room went silent as the announcement came on again.

"Breaking News, the body of Harry Potter was found today in a field a few miles from-"The announcer's voice faded away as the kitchen was filled with cries and swears. Ginny just blankly stared at the shards of the broken porcelain. All she could think about was her heart being just like the plate, shattered.

"Well, Ginny dear, let me just fix that plate." Mrs. Weasley said thickly.

"No!" Ginny cried. Her mother looked taken aback at her daughter.

"What's that Ginny?"

"Just, just leave it here." Ginny pleaded quietly. Her mother granted her wish and ushered everyone else out of the kitchen, leaving a broken Ginny to her thoughts.

**/\/\/\**

Two days later, a funeral service was held for Harry. The November morning was cold, but the sun was shining. The service was held outside the remnants of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the place Harry called home. The burnt remains of the once beautiful castle had been somewhat cleaned up for the service. Only half a tower stood, a long black cloth draped over it in honor of the person who tried his hardest to save it.

Ginny took a seat in one of the conjured chairs on the freshly cleaned lawn. She wore a simple black cotton dress, with an engraved silver locket around her neck. Ginny had given to locket to Harry when he had turned eighteen and had been headed straight to Voldemort himself, having destroyed all of the Horcruxes. When she had received it, she learned that he had died wearing it. Ginny held the heart shaped pendant tightly, trying desperately not to fall to pieces again.

During the service, Ron, Hermione, Professor McGonagall, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley spoke about Harry. Earlier, Ginny had declined speaking; she didn't think she could get through it without choking up.

All of the speaker's words were kind and none of them stayed dry eyed during their speech. Ron and Hermione talked about how good of a friend Harry was and how brave he had to be during their search. McGonagall said that Harry was a wonderful student with a wonderful heart, and that his parent's would have been proud. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley tearfully admired Harry's kindness towards them and their children and how they saw him as one of their own sons.

Afterwards, Harry's casket was laid in a grave next to his parents', and everyone put in something special which was a Wizarding tradition. Ginny pulled a shiny white shard from her purse. It was a piece of porcelain from the broken plate. On the back of the piece, Ginny had written:

_Harry_

_Though my heart is broken_

_Thought I never told you_

_You kept me going through life_

_And I will always love you_

Ginny tossed the magically unbreakable memory on top of the casket, along with a beautiful immortal red rose. Then, tears flowing freely down her face, she blew a kiss and walked away.

**/\/\/\**

Single parent Ginny Weasley walked up to the familiar gravestones with four year old Ashlan. The 22-year-old red head walked hand in hand with her son up to a particular stone. This one and the two next to it were very clean and had some slightly wilted flowers laying on each. Ginny and Ashlan picked up the dying flowers and laid new ones on the ground. Ginny squeezed her son's hand as she read the gravestone they had come to see.

_Harry James Potter_

_1980-1999_

_A Loyal Friend_

_A Conqueror_

_The Man-Who-Succeeded_

Then, in neat, black script, it said:

A Father, to Ashlan Harry Weasley 


End file.
